Is there a myth about the World Egg in Talmud?

Question

As we know, Genesis 1-2 is a remarkable and probably best known creation story.

Decades ago, the Finnish mythologist Martti Haavio referred in his book 'Väinämöinen' (1949, FINNISH) that there would have been a myth in the Jewish Talmud about the world egg, from which the heaven and earth were created. For reference, he used Robert Eisler's book "Weltenmantel und himmelszelt; religionsgeschichtliche untersuchungen zur urgeschichte des antiken weltbildes I-II", p. 410 (from 1910).

I have tried to find a connection to this from Talmud and failed. Also, I don’t speak German so I can’t read the original book (although it’s more likely to be found on the internet, though not necessarily in two different books as the name of the book I give suggests).

Does anyone know if such a myth can be found in the Talmud and if so where and which work would be appropriate to look at it?

Answer 1

Going by the note @tohuwawohu found in Eisler's book, there isn't anything remotely as explicit as Eisler said not in Tractate Chagigah 12 nor in Midrash Beresheet Rabbah 10.

Eisler said, according to Google Translate: "How did God create the world? He took two halves of an egg and fertilized one through the other."

The closest I found is this:

"מַאי ״שָׁמַיִם״? אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר חֲנִינָא: שֶׁשָּׁם מַיִם. בְּמַתְנִיתָא תָּנָא: אֵשׁ וּמַיִם, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהֱבִיאָן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּטְרָפָן זֶה בָּזֶה, וְעָשָׂה מֵהֶן רָקִיעַ."
"The Talmud asks: What is the meaning and source of the word “heaven” [shamayim]? Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: It is an acronym, shesham mayim, meaning: That water is there. It was taught in a baraita: Shamayim means esh umayim, fire and water, which teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, brought them both and combined [/mixed] them together, and made the firmament from them."

The root טר"פ used here is often used with regards to eggs, typically meaning beaten eggs. But eggs aren't actually mentioned here.

I tried looking around a bit on the internet but haven't turned up anything yet. I'll update if I find anything, though I'm somewhat doubtful. See here and here for two cases of stories quoted in the name of ancient Jewish sources but don't seem to actually be there. I can attest that I spent quite a bit of time hunting down these stories through dozens of Jewish sources, but to no avail. Of course, it's possible that Eisler had a different understanding of the Talmud.